The Changing Face of Leadership Preparation - leadership preparation programme standards for school administrators

School Administrator, Nov, 2001 by Joseph Murphy

This vision of the new education leader was captured in the "Standards for School Leaders," developed by the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium--a consortium of more than 30 states and all the major professional organizations in the area of school administration, including AASA, NASSP and NAESP (see related story, page 17). The consortium's standards provide the DNA for reculturing the profession of school administration. They also provide a platform for the reconstitution of leadership preparation programs and for certification and recertification of school leaders.

The states that either have adopted or adapted the ISLLC standards, such as North Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana, are in different stages of implementing them to reform educational leadership and are basing their standards for licensure of school administrators on the ISSLC standards.

Also on the state level, professional development programs, such as those run by the Ohio Principals Leadership Academy and the Alabama Council of School Administration and Supervision, grounded their professional development program on the standards. Even private entrepreneurial groups are gearing their professional development offerings toward addressing the ISLLC standards. Of course, these programs are designed to help those already in the profession.

University administrator preparation programs also are rebuilding themselves around the standards, as are professional development programs at the district and education association level. The National Association of Secondary School Principals, for example, recently revamped its long-established leadership assessment and development program to link targeted skills to the ISLLC standards. The National Association of Elementary School Principals offers leadership workshops for its members based on the standards.

Several states, including Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina, are requiring their university preparation programs for superintendents and principals to transform themselves around the standards. Some states are embedding the standards in licensure requirements and evaluation of superintendents.

Joe Schneider, executive secretary of the National Policy Board for Educational Leadership, believes the ISLLC standards are beginning to change the way departments of educational administration train future school leaders. And within a year, he predicts, all departments of educational administration that want national recognition by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education will be showcasing the ISLLC standards.

In recent years, Iowa State University has developed six new courses that reflect the six ISLLC standards rather than the traditional management and academic disciplines. Courses at Delta State University and Southern Mississippi and Central Arkansas University have overhauled their educational administration courses to reflect a standards-based curriculum. The University of Maryland at College Park and the College of William and Mary have taken similar actions.